Profiles from Lakota Country: Native Americans in Education

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profiles from lakota country- native americans in education.jpgWhen the topic of Education and Native

Americans is brought up the view of a unsettling and disturbing

history plays with a sequence of historical trauma. This isn’t a

collaboration that was arranged with open arms and satisfying

results.

This approach began with Carlisle

Indian School, which was established by Gen. Richard Henry Pratt in

1879. Specifically built for Native American children, the approach

to this was to assist the Natives in becoming “civilized” and

functional in mainstream western society. However, teaching

arithmetic, writing and reading came with horrendous atrocities,

abuse and discipline within the Native boarding school systems that

would shape and change the classroom and generations forever.

To enhance any teachings the official

government policy was to, “Kill the Indian and save the man.”

With this motto came severe forms of discipline which included

beating, torture, sexual abuse and even death. Though Native people

wanted their children to be able to survive in the inevitable change

coming, they were not prepared to take on what the boarding school

system would bring. This created generational poverty among those who

endured, survived and would speak about it.

Since that dark period in tribal

history, Native people have a come a long way in developing and

tailoring education that meets the needs of their children. Students

have become educated, speaking fluent English and are encouraged to

learn their tribal history. Those who pursue a career in education

are are protected by policies, procedures and laws developed to

enshrine education that was once banned in boarding schools.

One such educator is Sage Fast Dog,

Sr., an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota.

He has taught in the Todd County School District, a non-Native public

school with a majority of Native students who attend, for nine years.

He graduated from St. Francis Indian

School – another school on the Rosebud reservation that caters

specifically to enrolled students – went onto college at Black

Hills State University in Spearfish, S.D. He finished his education

at Sinte Gleska University, the tribe’s own institution of higher

learning established in 1970, with a bachelor’s degree in Social

Studies and Lakota Studies. After being certified in Secondary

Education, he began teaching Lakota Studies at Todd County.

Fast Dog lives a drug- and

alcohol-free life with his wife Krista White, two sons, Sage, Jr.,

Waciyapi and newborn daughter Wacekiya. In a place where drug and

alcohol abuse are commonplace, it can be a challenge. But the father

and educator draws strength from his traditional values and

practices, singing with his family drum group, Soldier Creek. He is

also a traditional dancer in the powwow circuit and participates in

traditional Lakota ceremonies.

In addition to

living the principles of Wolakota, Fast Dog is the Sicangu Club

advisor and helps coach the hand game team at the high school and

advises the drum group at Todd County Middle School.

With the many hats Fast Dog wears, he

talks to his students about what it’s like to teach history and

culture in what he calls “the iGeneration” where knowing what

happened a thousand years ago can be seen at the touch of a button.

To be a educator in todays society is

an exciting task. Educators have access to technology and research

enhancement like never before. As Native students enter the classroom

to learn about their history, culture and language they are reminded

of how far they’ve come, as a people who endured broken treaties

and surfing into a millennium on iPads.

PHOTO: Sage Fast Dog, Sr., uses the architecture of St. Francis Indian School to explain to a group of students the basic principles of Wolakota. (Photo by Lynette White Hat)